No. HDMI 2 will carry audio (embedded in video) either way. You only need to turn Audio off on HDMI 1 if you are having some problem with the device you are connecting it to, such as you can't turn off its speakers.

3D will work fine. One of the main reasons for having 2 HDMI outs is if the AVR can't pass 3D video, so you need HDMI 1 direct to the 3D display for video, and HDMI 2 to the AVR for audio.
--Bob

The Oppo BDP-93/95 multiregion DIY PRO kit from bluraychip.dk does not work for me. After following the instructions, I still see the region code error on the screen. Any idea?

At times a firmware update was required for the Bluraychip.dk DIY Pro kit. I'm aware of at least 3 separate instances; 1.0f, 1.0g, and 1.1a. Regardless, the latest firmware for the Blueraychip.dk PRO mod is 1.1a (2012-08-17) and works with the latest official BDP-93 firmware: BDP9x-82-1009 from October of 2014. The latest mod kit firmware was released 2 years prior to the latest BDP-93 firmware and should still work without issue. It works perfectly on my system.

Check to see that you have the latest firmware installed for the PRO mod kit. Remove a disc from the BDP-93 if one is present and then shut the unit down. From standby press Top Menu - Setup - Yellow - 6 on your remote. After doing this the player will automatically power on. Wait for the "No Disc" message to appear on your TV and once it has then press the Yellow button. Now read the display on the BDP-93 and it will tell you what firmware version is installed for the mod kit. Once you know the version then power off the unit as it instructs.

If the above directions don't work then contact Bluraychip.dk. If they do work and the firmware is not 1.1a then contact Bluraychip.dk and request the latest firmware and or further assistance.

Hello-
I need to replace an old Blu-Ray in my TV room and wonder if it would make sense to buy a used Oppo BDP-93 if I can get one cheap enough. I record a lot of TV shows over the air on my TV, so one interest would be to play video files over the network.

Hello-
I need to replace an old Blu-Ray in my TV room and wonder if it would make sense to buy a used Oppo BDP-93 if I can get one cheap enough. I record a lot of TV shows over the air on my TV, so one interest would be to play video files over the network.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

TIA

What container and codecs do you use for your recordings? Would a DLNA server suit your needs?

The -93 is one generation back now and OPPO is about to release a new model with UHD support. Media file and networking capabilities generally improve with each generation.

Bill-
Thanks for the response. My recordings are copied from my Tivo and use either a .mpg or .ts container. I've converted a number of them to .mkv so that I can see the closed captions (very helpful as I get older). DLNA could work, as could PLEX, but my NAS is underpowered for acting like a server for high bit rate recordings. I'm trying to avoid going back to a HTPC if possible.

I don't mind the -93 being a generation back if the price is right. 4K technology is great, but I think well mastered 1080p looks good enough that I'm not ready to invest in getting 4K disks yet. Heck, at least 25% of what I watch is still on DVDs. I want a player that will last me a few years before I dive into 4K. I could get a 103D, but wonder if the -93 would be good enough at a few hundred dollars less.

Maybe you're thinking of ISO files? ISO file support appeared in firmware 50-0608 and was removed in firmware 64-0119.

-Bill

Thanks, Bill. I'm not sure if this lack of ISO support would alter my use, but perhaps you could help me understand this better. I use a program which came with my Hauppauge HD-PVR (1212, I think) by Arcsoft called TME, Total Media Extreme, which allows me to burn HD recordings on to DVD in a form my various BD machines can play (including my not recently updated Oppo 93) in true HD quality, not just 480p DVD. I'm pretty sure the discs made contain numerous extra files/folders like "Certificate", "JAVA BD?" (I forget what they are all called) so there seems to be a lot more than just the movie itself. Will I still be able to play these discs if I lose ISO support by upgrading my 93?

My weak understanding is that needing ISO support would mean dragging the raw, not processed (compressed) audio and video files, directly from a commercial movie BD, to the blank DVD or BD itself, right?

Will I still be able to play these discs if I lose ISO support by upgrading my 93?

Yes, if they played before then they should play with updated firmware.

Quote:

My weak understanding is that needing ISO support would mean dragging the raw, not processed (compressed) audio and video files, directly from a commercial movie BD, to the blank DVD or BD itself, right?

ISO is a mirror copy of the original disc saved to a computer file and accessed that way. If you burn it correctly to new optical media then it is just plain DVD or Blu-ray video like any other disc.

It is popular on HTPC and media server platforms, but is no longer available on the -93. (It was available for about 5 months years ago before the studios came down like a ton of bricks on both OPPO and Mediatek, who provide the media file fundamentals of the player).

It is popular on HTPC and media server platforms, but is no longer available on the -93. (It was available for about 5 months years ago before the studios came down like a ton of bricks on both OPPO and Mediatek, who provide the media file fundamentals of the player).

Thanks. I don't use any other media player device besides my Oppo 93 and I don't currently use ISO, primarily I use MKV coming in via USB connection to a harddrive, but losing this ISO ability by upgrading worries me if my current machine is "special" and I'd be ruining what makes it special by updating. Am I worrying about what is now a fairly obscure way to play files, (ISO), hence I shouldn't be worried?

If, say, at a later date I ever did need ISO support, do things like Roku units play it or are there other, simple, inexpensive ways to play ISO?

Thanks. I don't use any other media player device besides my Oppo 93 and I don't currently use ISO, primarily I use MKV coming in via USB connection to a harddrive, but losing this ISO ability by upgrading worries me if my current machine is "special" and I'd be ruining what makes it special by updating. Am I worrying about what is now a fairly obscure way to play files, (ISO), hence I shouldn't be worried?

I don't miss the capability any more, but being able to do something is more special that not being able to do it. At one time I heard of resale premiums for players with ISO firmware, but that was years ago. Time marches on, new devices appear.

Quote:

If, say, at a later date I ever did need ISO support, do things like Roku units play it or are there other, simple, inexpensive ways to play ISO?

I haven' t kept track. Try these other forums where people discuss this sort of thing:

There are still premium priced used [ISO capable] 93s on ebay and one of them brags about it in this way:
"Because of that [ISO support firmware intact], you can use this like a changer by putting ISO file copies of your DVDA or DVDV, folders with compatible music files such as FLAC, or video folders from blurays on a USB or eSATA drive, and attach it to this and play them like the optical discs. "

I currently play MKV files from my USB hard drive with pretty much the same capabilities as if it were a commercial disc [Just the movie that is, with play, slo-mo, frame advance, stop etc., but I don't care about extras]. I will still be able to do that after updating my 93, right?

There are still premium priced used [ISO capable] 93s on ebay and one of them brags about it in this way:
"Because of that [ISO support firmware intact], you can use this like a changer by putting ISO file copies of your DVDA or DVDV, folders with compatible music files such as FLAC, or video folders from blurays on a USB or eSATA drive, and attach it to this and play them like the optical discs. "

I currently play MKV files from my USB hard drive with pretty much the same capabilities as if it were a commercial disc [Just the movie that is, with play, slo-mo, frame advance, stop etc., but I don't care about extras]. I will still be able to do that after updating my 93, right?

Yes. And his comment about "folders with compatible music files such as FLAC" has nothing to do with ISO. That's normal capability regardless of firmware.

^ It may also be useful to note that if you have an ISO file you want to make use of, there are a number of ways to extract playable items from it. So if you have a Bluray ISO, you can use software like MakeMKV to extract mkv files of the main movie and (if interested) the extras and you can then play those files on the Oppo. The only really compelling need for ISO support, in my opinion, is to get full Bluray disc menus; of course that also means you get treated to all the downsides of that such as forced previous, FBI warnings, and other such items, but the full disc menus can be quite useful for watching TV show Blurays where extracting mkv files for each episode can be a PITA (the pain there is figuring out which file is which episode because they frequently aren't in order).

Apologies for what is probably a dumb question. I've got a sick Denon AVR 4806ci that needs to go back to the service center, and I'm trying to resurrect an ancient, non-HDMI Denon AVR 5600 to pinch-hit during the repair. The 5600 has coaxial and optical audio inputs. I cannot, however, get the coaxial input to take a bitstream from Blu-Ray. Only way to get sound, it appears, is to set the Oppo to output in the LPCM format. I understand the notion that if the Blu-Ray has a format incompatible with the 5600 (such as DTS) that it just wouldn't work. But is there something related to bitstream of conventional Dolby Digital 5.1 that would make it not work on an older device? I presume this is some sort of Blu-Ray format issue, that the bitstream it outputs is not compatible. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Apologies for what is probably a dumb question. I've got a sick Denon AVR 4806ci that needs to go back to the service center, and I'm trying to resurrect an ancient, non-HDMI Denon AVR 5600 to pinch-hit during the repair. The 5600 has coaxial and optical audio inputs. I cannot, however, get the coaxial input to take a bitstream from Blu-Ray. Only way to get sound, it appears, is to set the Oppo to output in the LPCM format. I understand the notion that if the Blu-Ray has a format incompatible with the 5600 (such as DTS) that it just wouldn't work. But is there something related to bitstream of conventional Dolby Digital 5.1 that would make it not work on an older device? I presume this is some sort of Blu-Ray format issue, that the bitstream it outputs is not compatible. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

It sounds like you've got Secondary Audio switched on. Turn it off.

Look at page 65 of your 93's manual. That contains a grid showing what's output when Secondary Audio is turned on or off.

When Secondary Audio is turned off, bitstream puts out the native format of the disk over HDMI, but over coax or optical it sends the DVD-era version of the native format:
"Dolby Digital" if the disk is any generation of Dolby: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, or Dolby TrueHD,
"DTS" if the disk is putting out any generation of DTS, up through DTS HD Master Audio.
Stereo PCM if the disk is encoded in up to 7.1 channels of LPCM

Butwhen Secondary Audio is turned on, bitstream puts out DVD-era DTSeven if the disk is encoded with Dolbyor LPCM (because DTS was the best DVD-era codec - it had about three times the bit rate of Dolby). I guess Oppo just didn't expect that anyone would connect the 93 to an AVR so old that it didn't speak DTS.

Since your AVR doesn't speak DTS, if you've got Secondary Audio turned on, that's why you have to use stereo LPCM to hear anything - even from non-DTS disks, since Secondary Audio sends all bitstreams as DTS.

So in Setup, go to Audio Format Setup (the third line) and on the top line of that submenu, turn off Secondary Audio.

That will let you bitstream all generations of Dolby soundtracks as DVD-era Dolby Digital in up to 5.1 and will bitstream LPCM as stereo.

On disks that have only DTS soundtracks - common among Blu-rays but rare among DVDs - you'll still have to switch the Oppo from bitstream to LPCM and listen in stereo, since your AVR can't understand the DTS the 93 would send it.

The bigger problem is that - unlike HDMI and multichannel analog - coax and optical can't carry full quality 5.1 audio, only lossy DVD-era encodings. For full quality, coax and optical are limited to stereo. (That's why many concert DVDs included stereo PCM tracks along with the lossy surround tracks - the stereo tracks were lossless.)

So the better solution, if you have half a dozen RCA cables, is to connect the 93's multichannel analog output to the AVR's "Multichannel Audio" jacks. That'll give you 5.1 from all disks - DTS, Dolby, and LPCM - in the full quality of the lossless surround tracks (Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio, and LPCM) available on Blu-rays.

That's how I ran for many years until I got an HDMI-equipped Yamaha a year and a half ago. With most AVRs, multichannel analog requires manual channel balancing and distance tweaking (and downmixing of 7.1 to 5.1) inside the 93 (all found under Audio Processing/Speaker Configuration in setup - see page 68-72 in your 93's manual), and that input bypasses most AVRs' automatic room correction as well, but the 93's analog output is excellent nonetheless - and you avoid the knocking back of the sound quality from lossless to lossy that using DVD-era encodings like Dolby Digital and DTS entailed.

Quick reminder please.
I have just purchased a Lumagen, and while re-configuring, my feeble memory thought about the difference between HMDI 1 & 2 on the Oppo. Specifically a undefeatable Noise Reduction? As I intend to now run with Source Direct, should I actually be feeding my Lumagen with HDMI 1 or 2? AVR will be getting the other. Or am I faffing over nothing ?

Quick reminder please.
I have just purchased a Lumagen, and while re-configuring, my feeble memory thought about the difference between HMDI 1 & 2 on the Oppo. Specifically a undefeatable Noise Reduction? As I intend to now run with Source Direct, should I actually be feeding my Lumagen with HDMI 1 or 2? AVR will be getting the other. Or am I faffing over nothing ?

Whether its "nothing" or not is a question I won't get into. HDMI-2 will give you the "purest" image, but its more relevant to scaling DVD and crappy streaming images. On BD its barely perceptible. HDMI-1 cannot output DSD if that's a factor.

Whether its "nothing" or not is a question I won't get into. HDMI-2 will give you the "purest" image, but its more relevant to scaling DVD and crappy streaming images. On BD its barely perceptible. HDMI-1 cannot output DSD if that's a factor.

Since your AVR doesn't speak DTS, if you've got Secondary Audio turned on, that's why you have to use stereo LPCM to hear anything - even from non-DTS disks, since Secondary Audio sends all bitstreams as DTS.

So in Setup, go to Audio Format Setup (the third line) and on the top line of that submenu, turn off Secondary Audio.
. . .

So the better solution, if you have half a dozen RCA cables, is to connect the 93's multichannel analog output to the AVR's "Multichannel Audio" jacks.

Thanks so much for the tip. That did the trick (at least for discs encoded in DD). Unfortunately, the Denon AVR-5600 is so ancient that it doesn't have multi-channel input jacks. This is an AVR from the earliest days of DVD, might even have predated the DVD format. It was part of my original home theater setup with a Pioneer laserdisc/dvd combo player. The 5600 has separate output jacks, so you could use it as a pre/pro, I guess. But no inputs. So I'll have to be content with coax bitstream for DD and LPCM for DTS-only discs until my 4806ci gets fixed. Or until I suck it up and buy an entirely new AVR.

Thanks so much for the tip. That did the trick (at least for discs encoded in DD). Unfortunately, the Denon AVR-5600 is so ancient that it doesn't have multi-channel input jacks. This is an AVR from the earliest days of DVD, might even have predated the DVD format. It was part of my original home theater setup with a Pioneer laserdisc/dvd combo player. The 5600 has separate output jacks, so you could use it as a pre/pro, I guess. But no inputs. So I'll have to be content with coax bitstream for DD and LPCM for DTS-only discs until my 4806ci gets fixed. Or until I suck it up and buy an entirely new AVR.

Tom

Glad to be able to help! If you go shopping for a new AVR, be sure to look at Yamaha's - I particularly appreciate being able to fine tune the results of their YPAO automatic room correction, which I'm not sure Audessy allows.

The reason this is important is that if you have a 7.1 setup with rear speakers, auto room correction systems tend to set the rears too quiet, since the microphones these systems use don't take account of the shape of the human ear, which attenuates sound coming from behind. What I do in the post-YPAO tweak screen is travel the test tone around the room while sitting facing forwards, adding a few db of boost to the two rear speakers to make them sound as loud as the others.

Oh - and use the "YPAO Flat" profile rather than the "YPAO Natural" profile, which is a treble roll off settled upon many years ago in conjunction with classical musicians in coming up with Yamaha's trademark "Natural Sound."

To the best of my knowledge all outputs, analog and digital, work simultaneously.

In A/V reproduction accuracy, there IS no concept of "accounting for personal taste/preference". As art consumers we don't "pick" the level of bass, nor the tint/brightness of a scene's sky, any more than we pick the ending of a novel or Mona Lisa's type of smile. "High fidelity" means "high truthfulness", faithful to the original artist's intent: an unmodified, neutral, accurate copy of the original master, ideally being exact and with no discernable alterations, aka "transparency".

Thanks so much for the tip. That did the trick (at least for discs encoded in DD). Unfortunately, the Denon AVR-5600 is so ancient that it doesn't have multi-channel input jacks. This is an AVR from the earliest days of DVD, might even have predated the DVD format. It was part of my original home theater setup with a Pioneer laserdisc/dvd combo player. The 5600 has separate output jacks, so you could use it as a pre/pro, I guess. But no inputs. So I'll have to be content with coax bitstream for DD and LPCM for DTS-only discs until my 4806ci gets fixed. Or until I suck it up and buy an entirely new AVR.

Is it possible to run hdmi hook up for movies and also use analogue outs for stereo music, is there a setting I can use to select one or the other while having both hook ups?

As has already been noted, both connections are live all the time, so it's just a question of choosing at your amplifier which input you want to listen to.

You might want to switch back and forth between them to see which you like the sound of better.

Also, your amp is most likely going to do an analog-to-digital conversion on all incoming analog stereo inputs to enable all its other processing: tone controls, speaker delay settings, etc. Does it make sense to do a digital-to-analog conversion on the way out of the 93 just to feed an analog-to-digital conversion on the way into the amp? It may very well sound better to stay in the digital domain until the final digital-to-analog conversion in the amp!